Le Château Inc. was a fashion company, currently under liquidation, that was founded in 1959 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and designed, imported and retailed women's and men's apparel, accessories and footwear. In 2015, the company generated sales of about million. The company sold directly to customers from 211 retail stores in Canada, as well as five that had been in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In 2017, Le Château had employed more than 2,500 people worldwide. Le Château manufactured about 35% of the merchandise itself in Canadian factories with the remainder imported. On October 23, 2020, it was announced that Le Château would be filing for CCAA bankruptcy protection, liquidating its inventory and closing all 123 stores. In 2021, Le Cheateau would be bought out by Montreal-based Suzy Shier. History Early years: 1959-1982 Founded by Herschel Segal in 1959, as "Le Chateau Men's Wear", it began as a menswear store in downtown Montreal Victoria Square. Segal gave his store a French name because of the budding francophone feelings occurring in Quebec. At first, Le Château was not a "fashion-forward" store, as it would later become, as Segal sold overstock from his father's old store. In 2003, Segal described his early customers as "old ... blue-haired ladies." Le Château did well at first, and three more stores were opened. However, by the early 1960s the company was close to bankruptcy, and all but the original store were closed. In 1962, Le Château added women's clothing, shortened the name to "Le Château", and switched to selling imported European fashions. The store imported from Carnaby Street in London, a fashion centre at the time, as well as other imports such as French suits and Italian turtlenecks. This worked well, and within a few years, Le Château completely phased out the original traditional clothing style to concentrate on selling fashionable imports to youths. Segal claims that Le Château was the first to introduce bell bottoms to Canada, and had the latest European fashion before it even arrived in New York. Le Château played an integral yet little known role in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 Montreal bed-in, providing the signature velour jumpsuits worn by the pair. By 1972, the chain grew to 10 stores, and by the end of the decade Le Château had over 50 stores across Canada. By this time, Le Château had shifted to selling mainstream fashion instead